Expectations
by ellymango
Summary: When Sealand informs England of yet another plot for independence, the older nation hardly pays attention. However a week passes without hearing from the micronation, so England decides to investigate... One-shot, written for the 100 Theme Challenge on deviantART.


Theme 33- Expectations

Peter sprinted through the gardens, stumbling occasionally in the gravel, but saving himself from falling flat each time. The satisfied smile on his face never once faltered as he burst through the kitchen doors, sliding across the polished tiles noisily and thumping into the hallway, bounding up the stairs two at a time.

He skidded to a halt at the top of the stairs, adjusting the warm laptop under his arm. His excitement was bubbling over, as he propelled himself full pelt down the corridor. _The look on his face will be priceless!_

The doors to the study were almost blown from their hinges, causing the brass handles to leave small dark scuffs on the walls as they smashed into them. Oddly, the man hunched over the desk at the end of the room didn't even look up from the paperwork he was slaving over, and instead sighed in annoyance.

"What do you want this time, Sealand?" Arthur didn't even look up from his desk, and continued writing away at some document that was clearly more important than the excitable micronation at the door. He set his pen down, looking up as he balanced his chin on interlaced fingers. "And don't even _think_ of saying to be your own country, because you know that's _never_ going to happen."

As he finished, the micronation charged at the desk, unfolding the laptop, and thumping it down in front of the bored Englishman. "Wanna bet?" Peter smirked smugly as he watched Arthur put on his reading glasses to read the information on the screen.

"You're trying… to sell yourself…?" While it was true Peter had on many occasions attempted to declare "independence", and that Arthur was indeed no stranger to his antics, selling himself via the internet was something he certainly wasn't expecting.

"Yeah, and look who's interested!" The boy pointed triumphantly at an area on the screen from behind.

"The Pirate Bay…? What the devil is that?"

"A website. _And _it's based in Sweden, so I won't have to live with _you _anymore." He said this last part in a suspiciously triumphant and smug manner.

Arthur removed his glasses and gave his micronation the glare he usually reserves solely for Alfred and his hair-brained ideas. "Sealand, have you ever _met _Sweden before?"

Peter's face went from smug satisfaction to sheepishness. "… No."

_Ohoho, this isn't going to turn out well. _"You do also realise that proper countries don't sell themselves to…" He paused. "Do you even know what this Pirate Bay company does?"

The boy's expression stayed put as he awkwardly stared at his shoes. "No." He brightened suddenly. "But with a name like that, I'll bet they're about boats and ships!"

Sighing as nonchalantly as possible, Arthur closed the laptop and pushed it back to the micronation. "And what exactly do you plan on doing if you do actually manage to be bought by them?" He spoke in a slow, deliberate tone, as if he were addressing a young child and not a national (or in this case, micronational) personification.

"Go and live with them of course! Or, with Mister Sweden anyway!"

"Do you speak Swedish?"

"No, but-"

"Could you find Sweden on a map?"

"…Maybe."

"Do you even know what he looks like?"

"Umm, he's blond and tall…?"

"All the Scandinavians are."

The boy paused, biting his lip. "… He's the happy one with the little dog…?"

"No, that's Finland. Sweden's the one with the glasses." Arthur sighed deeply, rubbing the bridge of his nose as the boy tensed at the thought of the decidedly intimidating Swedish nation. "You really haven't thought this through now, have you?"

The boy huffed indignantly. "I just need to research some more!" He grappled the laptop from the table, spun on one heel and scampered from the room. Arthur rubbed at his eyes tiredly with his palms. One would think that having raised so many nations in the past, that dealing with them and their endless shenanigans would be a walk in the park, but no. It appeared that micronations were programmed to behave a little bit differently than normal countries.

He sighed in frustration, and reached for his pen. That paperwork wasn't going to finish itself now, was it?

oOo

A week had passed since Peter's revelation of his plan to sell himself, yet strangely, that was the last time Arthur saw him. It wasn't particularly unusual for him to go long periods of time without seeing the boy, but after their last encounter, he was at the very least expecting updates on the internet auction.

Eventually, he began to worry. _Had_ he actually succeeded? It was highly improbable; after all, he knew that Berwald had micronations of his own, and that he most likely wouldn't want to have much to do with somebody else's. He so far hadn't encountered any of them, but if they were anywhere near as rambunctious as Peter could be, he doubted the Swede would willingly take on another.

Sighing, he glanced across at the grandfather clock which sat against the wall. It wasn't as if he was weighed down with work at the moment… Besides, he hadn't paid the boy a visit in quite some time, usually the boy came to him. Maybe it was time to break the habit.

The trip up to Felixstowe took longer than he remembered. He found it odd, considering the trains had been updated to faster models since he last took this trip. Had it reallybeen _that_ long since he last visited?

Stepping out of the taxi at the seafront, he caught sight of something he wasn't really expecting; the lone figure of his micronation wandering along the sand, head bowed and looking rather dejected.

_Ohh, dear. This doesn't look good. _Arthur paid the driver, and trotted off at a light pace to catch up with the boy. As he neared, Peter spun around, face sharpening when he saw who was following him. "Oh, what do you want, jerk?"

"Really Sealand, if you're going to insult me, at least use a British insult." He held up a stern hand as the boy opened his mouth to reply. "And I mean insults, not swears. There is a difference, you know."

Peter poked his tongue out at the avatar, turning away to face the beach. "Why are you even here?"

"Checking that I still have a micronation and that you haven't buggered off to Sweden and left me alone here." No response. "You… are still going to live with him… aren't you?"

Peter muttered something incoherent into his scarf, idly kicking a stray bottle top across the sand. "Pardon? I didn't quite catch that. Speak up."

"No…"

It was a muffled response, but coherent nonetheless. "So you're _not_ going then?" The boy shook his head sharply, trudging heavily down the beach away from Arthur. Sighing, with a roll of his eyes, the English avatar followed, trotting slightly to keep pace with the micronation. "Do you know _why _you're not?"

Peter stopped, and squared his shoulders slightly, bunching them up to his ears. "I didn't want to go."

"Really?" Arthur's eyebrows furrowed together to the point where they almost joined. "How come?"

"What's it to _you_? Everyone knows you don't care about me."

"Well you're obviously upset. I do actually have a heart, you know."

The boy turned on his heel to face him. "I… didn't really like what they did, and my boss declined the offer." There was a sad note to his voice, and his gave turned, slowly but surely, to the ground.

Sighing deeply, the English avatar crossed the sand in two brisk strides, laying a hand on the shoulder of the forlorn boy. "Well, I'm afraid that's just a part of life."

"Life sucks."

This earned a chuckle from the Englishman. "I'm surprised you've only just realised that now." The boy pouted, staring back at the sand, prompting Arthur to sigh sympathetically. "Would you like to go get an ice cream?"

Peter's face brightened. "Yes please."

* * *

**Anyone who knows me well enough from dA knows that I have a deep-rooted _detestation_ for the so-called "Hanatamata Family Unit" (SuFin with Sealand as adopted "son") namely due to... everything about it. SuFin isn't really a pairing I care about, Sealand himself is my least favourite character in the show besides Prussia, and what brainless idiot came up with this ridiculous combination anyway? **

**Anyways, after rooting around Wikipedia in frustration, I came across a section on Sealandic history (yes, there's actually a page about that) which told me that in around 2006, Sealand _did_ in fact attempt to auction itself of, and a Swedish company called "The Pirates Bay" showed interest. However, after finding out that the company made illegal copies of DVD's, uploaded illegally downloaded films to the web, etc, Sealand turned the offer down.**

**Take _that_, fandom!**

**On a less rant-ish note: this was my first time writing both characters. I hope I caught their relationship well! ^^; Also, these two together need more love ;w; I am so totally going to be writing more (when I get ideas, ahaha )**

**(PS: I don't think fans of the SuFin family are brainless idiots, just the person who started it :3 )**


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